Stock Market News: The domestic benchmark equity indices, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, opened lower on Thursday's session. The weak global cues and the poor quarterly results of private lender Axis Bank contributed to the already negative investor sentiment stemming from the government's tax hikes on equity investment gains and derivatives trading.
At 9:53 IST, the Nifty 50 declined 0.65% to 24,254.75, while the Sensex fell 0.61% to 79,668.04.
Global cueshave clearly gone negative, according to Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. The Nasdaq had a steep fall of 3.64%, the largest cut since 2024. The majority of selling is occurring in the tech companies, which have been leading the US market surge, as a result of news and results that were worse than anticipated. The proposed increase in the capital gains tax in the budget has not been well received in India either. More significantly, despite the remarkable 24% increase in Nifty earnings in FY24, there are indications of a slowdown in corporate earnings.
Technically, not much has changed in Nifty 50's daily chart structure. It has been observed that some support formation is happening around the 20 EMA, currently placed in the 24,250 - 24,300 zone. Prices have bounced twice from this key average since budget day, making it a sacrosanct point for the bulls going forward. While the key indices seemed under profit-booking, the strong performance in the broader markets, with individual counters showing impressive moves, presented a different view. Traders appeared happy participating in actions outside the index, as many stocks had strong traction following their involvement in the budget amendments. We expect this stock-specific momentum to continue, and hence, one should maintain their focus here for outperforming opportunities.
For the monthly expiry session, we expect Nifty 50 to continue trading within a range. As highlighted, the 24,300 - 24,250 zone is likely to act as support, below which the panic low of 24,050 from the budget day could be retested. On the flip side, the high of the last two sessions around 24,600 seems a stiff hurdle, whereas the bearish engulfing high of 24,850 remains a daunting task to cross. Traders are advised to monitor these levels and set their trades accordingly.
On stocks to buy today, Osho Krishan recommended two stocks - FDC Ltd, and Hi-Tech Pipes Ltd.
FDC witnessed a substantial increase in price in the last couple of trading sessions, post-retesting its breakout neckline coinciding with 50 DEMA on the daily time frame chart. After a brief retreat from its all-time high, the stock is showing signs of regaining strength and appears poised to explore uncharted territory. On the oscillator front, most of the indicators are strongly aligned with the momentum, and the positive crossover in the 14-period RSI adds a bullish quotient, suggesting a potential upside journey in a comparable period.
Hence, we recommend to BUY FDC around 500, keeping a stop loss of ₹470 for a potential target of ₹550-560.
Hi-Tech Pipes has shown steady growth in the past few trading weeks, moving from a cluster of its Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) on the daily chart to form a rounding pattern after a correction from the high of 170. Currently, the stock is trading comfortably above all its major EMAs and appears poised to test its all-time high in the comparable period. The recent traction has been backed by a notable increase in volumes, suggesting a potent upsurge; also, the 14-period RSI firmly showcased a positive crossover, adding a bullish stance to the counter.
Hence, we recommend to BUY Hi-Tech Pipes on dips of around ₹142-140, keeping a stop loss of ₹126 for a potential target of ₹170.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
